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Sunday, April 5, 2009

My Favorite New Band: Phoenix

what I'm listening to: United by Phoenix

I have drunk the Kool-Aid, and I have fallen in love. Sign me up for the field trip to South America, as long as Phoenix is flying the plane.

With just the right amount of reverence to Bowie and Byrne, Phoenix crafts pop-deliciousness with a fervor for life. I'm not quite sure how they've been flying under my radar up until now (especial considering my penchant for Daft Punk, LCD Soundsystem, Sondre Lerche and the aforementioned David Bowie and David Byrne). Perhaps it's because these guys are Frogs, and live far, far away.

I feel a little (just a little!) like I'm getting old, like my finger slipped for a moment from the pulse, like LCD SS, losing my edge. I hate it when I discover a band on SNL. It means I haven't been paying attention. But last night these guys definitely whipped me out of a trance when they injected 30 Rockefeller Plaza with their bouncy, dulcet tones.

The drummer simply exudes joy as he bangs out happiness with precision and abandon. The lead singer is cool, without poking you in the eye with it (I'm so sick of hipster-indifference posing as cool, so thank the MCP for somebody who just is cool). Wifey says the guitar player looks a little like Johnny Depp (I guess in dirty, Edward Scissors Hands kind of way), and even I can see that the keyboard player is wicked hot. So hey, not only are they sonically pleasing, but visually as well!

I'm listening to United while I type this. "If I Ever Feel Better" just started playing. Oh, oh, oh, me likey!